


Small Difficulties

by chibiwonder



Series: Small Difficulties [1]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Gen, small Children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-17
Updated: 2013-10-17
Packaged: 2017-12-29 16:06:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1007369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibiwonder/pseuds/chibiwonder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cecil and Carlos alternately suck and rock at child-rearing for five days.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1

Cecil’s phone rang. He wondered idly why someone was calling right then, when anyone in the know knew that he was getting ready for his broadcast. But he paused in his usual ritual, and exited the circle of bloodstones to go and pick up his phone. There was an hour or two before he had to head over to the station anyway.

Cecil put the phone between his ear and his shoulder, as he didn’t want to get the bloodstone sludge on it. “Hello?”

“Cecil?” It was Carlos.

Cecil smiled. “Hello, Carlos.”

“Cecil, I’m calling for personal reasons. Um—” Carlos must have moved away from the speaker, because Cecil barely made out the next thing he said. “No, put that down, please. Put—” there was a grunt, and Carlos’ voice came clearly out of the speaker again. “Sorry about that, Cecil. I’m dealing with—” there were scuffling sounds “—Sorry, I’m dealing with an unexpected turn of events, and—”

Carlos stopped speaking for a few moments. There were more scuffling sounds, voices, and then the sound of a door closing. Cecil waited patiently as he went to the nearest sink and washed his hands. Whatever Carlos had to tell him, it was obviously important. And besides, he sounded a bit stressed. If Cecil could do anything to help, he wanted to ask.

Eventually, Carlos came back. “Sorry again, Cecil. Just, uh, just dealing with a few things. Listen, I’m calling because recent events have…” He paused.

“Yes?” Cecil pressed.

“Um… recent events have made it impossible for me to get to our date this Friday. I just wanted to call and let you know. I’m sorry. We can reschedule, though. I just… I can’t this week, I’ll have my hands full.”

Oh. That was disappointing. But not unexpected, of course. Life happened. “Is everything okay?” Cecil asked, pulling a jacket on over his shirt. “Do you want me to come over?”

“No, everything’s fine. You don’t have to—” There was the distant rattle of a doorknob from Carlos’ end of the line. “Sorry, you don’t have to come over, I’ve got everything under control.”

It didn’t sound like it, but Cecil decided to humor him. “Alright, if you say so. But you sound less in-control than usual.” He slipped his feet into his shoes and grabbed his keys from off the table.

“It’s all fine, Cecil.” There was a loud banging noise. “I’m sorry about Friday. I just thought you should know.”

“Thanks for calling, Carlos. I’ll see you soon, though, I hope.”

“Yeah.” Carlos sounded distracted. “Yeah, I’ll see you soon.” The phone picked up another loud bang. “Listen, I have to go, but I’ll call you when I can, okay?” There was a click, and the call ended.

Cecil set the phone back into its cradle and checked his pockets for anything he might have forgotten. He ran a finger through his hair and packed his bloodstones back into their box. There was sludge on the floor, but he would have to clean that up when he got home. He washed his hands one more time and headed out of the door.

He slid into his car, put the key in the ignition, and checked the time. Good. There were still a couple of hours until he had to be at the station. Cecil put his car in gear and backed out of the driveway, turning toward Carlos’ laboratory. The scientist may have said he had everything under control, but Cecil knew that he’d need help anyway.

——

A few minutes later, Cecil was knocking on Carlos’ door. He stood outside, listening intently. There were footsteps — a lot of footsteps. Perhaps Carlos had grown an extra leg, or vestigial siamese twin. Stranger things had happened. Then Carlos opened the door, looking surprised, and Cecil saw that it was much worse.

“Carlos,” Cecil said, speaking softly so as not to frighten the thing, “there’s a childlike growth on your leg.”

Carlos stopped looking surprised and started looking exasperated. “Cecil, that’s my niece.”

Cecil blinked and looked down again. “Oh.” The girl clinging to Carlos’ leg gazed up at him uncertainly. She had the same eyes as Carlos, only more suspicious. Cecil gave her a small wave. She turned her face and buried it in the folds of what Cecil recognized as Carlos’ ‘working’ lab coat.

“Cecil,” Carlos continued, “I told you you didn’t have to come over.”

“You never said I couldn’t,” Cecil replied, “and you sounded as though you needed some help.” Looking the scientist up and down, Cecil could tell that this assessment was correct. Carlos looked exhausted. His curly hair was mussed, and there were dark bags under his eyes. He was still beautiful and perfect, but less so than usual.

Carlos sighed. “Well, you might as well get to know each other now. Cecil, this is Catalina. Cate, this is Cecil.”

The girl looked up at Cecil again. Cecil waved again. She moved to wave back, then turned and ran farther into the laboratory instead. Carlos looked back over his shoulder, then winced when he heard another loud bang.

“Eh… I think I’ve locked up all the really dangerous equipment, so I don’t have to worry about…” he muttered, then looked back up at Cecil. “I’m sorry, I—” He briefly sagged against the doorframe, then straightened up again. “Come on in.”

Cecil followed Carlos into the area that qualified as the lab’s living room. Catalina was nowhere to be seen, but had apparently just knocked down one of the small tables. Carlos righted it and then looked dazedly at the couch, as though he were considering falling onto it.

“Cecil,” he said, “Cecil.” He blinked a few times. “Cecil,” he said again, “I’m so tired. I haven’t been able to keep up with her, and I didn’t sleep last night.”

“You should go to bed.” Cecil moved to put an arm around Carlos’ shoulder, but Carlos shook his head.

“No, no. I need to look after Cate. She’ll get into the delicate stuff if I don’t keep her away from it.”

As if on cue, there was a shattering sound from the kitchen, and a wail of “Uncle Carlooooooos!”

Carlos swayed on the spot, almost as though he were about to faint. Then he made his way to the kitchen, Cecil not far behind. There was a broken glass on the floor, and Catalina was crying and sucking at a cut on her right index finger.

Carlos pulled a band-aid from his pocket (A must have when practicing science anywhere, but especially in Night Vale, where blood could turn into things if you weren’t careful). While Carlos bandaged the young girl’s finger, Cecil picked up some of the larger pieces of glass and put them into the designated glass shard box (Not because it was required by Night Vale law, but simply so Carlos was able to recycle the glass to make new beakers). The rest would have to be swept up later, but he was sure he could manage that after he’d convinced Carlos to go to sleep for a while.

Cecil looked over his shoulder. Carlos was holding Catalina’s hand and asking if she was okay. Catalina nodded and sniffled, then looked over at Cecil. Her eyes were scrutinizing, and slightly accusatory, as though he were responsible for the cut on her finger.

“Sweetheart, do you want me to get you some water?” Carlos asked. Catalina looked back at him and nodded. Carlos shot Cecil a grateful look as he went to the sink and filled a glass with water.

“Cate,” Carlos suggested as he handed the girl her cup, “why don’t you go sit on the couch for a while and color?” Catalina nodded again and walked out of the kitchen, glass of water carefully held in both hands. She looked over her shoulder again at Cecil as she passed, then disappeared from view.

Carlos wandered over to the counter and leaned heavily on it. “Maybe she’ll finally hold still for more than a minute,” he said softly. He looked, if it was possible, more tired than he had before. Cecil hated seeing him that way. It wasn’t a good kind of tired.

He slid an arm around Carlos’ shoulders and gently guided him out of the kitchen. They passed through the living room, where Catalina sat on the floor with her coloring books and some crayons. She didn’t seem to notice the two of them pass by.

Cecil slowly guided Carlos to his bedroom. Carlos flopped onto the bed with a grateful sigh.

“Four days, Cecil,” he said. “Her mother will come and pick her up in four more days. I don’t know how I’ll manage it.”

“One day at a time,” Cecil said calmly as he pulled Carlos’ shoes off, first one, then the other. He was wearing mismatched socks, which was adorable and so very, very Carlos. “Why is she here at all?”

“Carmen had a business trip near here, and didn’t want to pay for a babysitter. She figured I’d be willing. Nevermind calling me first. But I couldn’t just say no.” Carlos groaned as Cecil pulled off his socks. “I haven’t seen her, or Cate, in months. I missed Cate’s sixth birthday last year. I feel like this is revenge.”

Cecil flexed his arms, then shrugged, an exaggerated motion that brought out his tentacles. Carlos moaned appreciatively a Cecil began to massage his feet with them.

“Cecil, I really should be watching Cate…” The scientist didn’t sound too distressed about the fact.

“I’ll take care of it, Carlos. Go to sleep, alright?”

“I’ll miss your show.”

“That’s okay. I’ll be back later and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Mmmm…” Carlos closed his eyes. A few seconds later, he was snoring gently. Cecil smiled, then looked at his watch. An hour until call time. That was just enough time for what he had in mind.

Cecil recalled his tentacles, then went out into the living room. Catalina was still there. She looked at him with distrust. Cecil tried smiling at her. She didn’t smile back.

“Where’s Uncle Carlos?”

“He’s taking a nap.” Cecil settled himself on the couch. “He thought that maybe you should take a nap, too.”

Catalina shook her head. “I’m not tired. I don’t want to.”

Well, he hadn’t expected it to be that easy anyway. “I think,” Cecil said, yawning just wide enough that she would notice, “that maybe you are tired. You’re actually very tired.”

The girl shook her head again. Then she yawned and blinked slowly. She almost looked surprised. “I’m not… I’m not tired.”

“You look tired. I wouldn’t blame you for wanting a nap; it’s been a very long day.” Cecil watched Catalina rub her eyes and yawn again. She lay down on her stomach and blinked drowsily. Her head dropped forward slightly, and then all at once she was sound asleep.

Cecil picked the girl up and carried her to one of the laboratory’s spare bedrooms, the one that had a small suitcase in it. He tucked Catalina into bed, and then, as an afterthought, filled up her water glass and set it on her bedside table.

He checked the time again. Forty-five minutes; that had taken less time than he thought. He swept the kitchen floor, then wrote a note for Carlos:

_Dearest Carlos,_

_Catalina should be asleep when you get this. I’ve gone to work, but I’ll be back right afterward if you call and say you need me there. I think Catalina will be asleep until tomorrow morning, but I could be wrong. Let me know if she doesn’t wake up after noon tomorrow, and I’ll try to fix it._

_Sleep tight! With love,_

_Cecil_

He left the note on Carlos’ nightstand. When Carlos hadn’t called by the end of the show, Cecil went home and made a promise to himself to visit the next afternoon, just to make sure he hadn’t overdone it on the sleeping persuasion.


	2. Day 2

It turned out that he hadn’t overdone it that much. Catalina hadn’t woken until ten, according to Carlos, but that was fine, because Carlos only just woke up at nine-thirty, which gave him enough time to take a quick shower and make breakfast. So that was alright.

“Honestly, Cecil, you really saved me last night,” Carlos said as they sat together on the couch after the news that evening, Catalina having gone off to play with one of Cecil’s old toys that he’d dug out of the back of his closet the night before (Carlos had made sure that it wasn’t too dangerous. And, outside of some autonomy and a realistic roar that sounded when you squeezed the squeaker, it was like every other teddy bear in the world).

“I’m just glad you’re okay.” Cecil sipped his coffee. “I wouldn’t want you to damage that brain of yours, I’m sure it’s very important to you.”

Carlos laughed. “It is. And I guess Catalina likes you now. She wasn’t sure about you yesterday, or so she told me.”

“Oh? What changed her mind?”

“Well, she thought that you were, in her words ‘one of those guys who Mommy warned me about’ because you go around knocking on people’s doors at weird hours. And there’s, you know, the eye.” Cecil raised an eyebrow and Carlos shrugged. “Admittedly, Cecil, it’s pretty weird to people who aren’t used to it.”

Cecil shrugged. He’d never gotten any remarks about his top eye before, but Carlos and Catalina were from out of town.

Carlos continued. “She’s figured out that we’re, ah, friends now, though, so you’re okay in her book.” There was a roar from down the hallway, and high, delighted laughter. “I think she also really likes the teddy bear.”

Cecil smiled and drank more of his coffee. “I hoped she would. That was my favorite toy, once upon a time.”

“It’s funny,” Carlos remarked, more to himself than to Cecil, “I can’t really picture you as any younger than you are now. But I’m sure you were.” He sipped from a coffee mug of his own. “Does that make any sense?”

“No,” Cecil said honestly. “I’m sure if I could find any of my baby pictures you’d probably have an easier time doing that. Although,” he continued, “I haven’t been able to find any at all. I don’t know if anyone ever took a picture of me when I was that young.”

Carlos looked slightly confused. “Why wouldn’t they?”

“Cameras have been in a fluctuating state of legal and illegal for as long as I can remember.” Cecil shrugged. “I guess I was a child during one of the illegal times.”

Catalina chose that moment to run into the living room, with the teddy bear chasing after her and roaring playfully. She climbed up onto the couch, between Carlos and Cecil, and tucked her legs underneath her. The two men watched interestedly as the teddy attempted repeatedly to climb onto the couch, but each time was pushed back down by Catalina. Eventually, the toy seemed to give up, and wandered out to the middle of the floor to collapse.

“Is it dead?” the girl asked, looking at Cecil.

Cecil carefully observed the bear for a few moments. “It’s playing dead,” he said finally, “but it will go to sleep in a few minutes if you don’t bother it.”

Catalina nodded and tugged at Carlos’ sleeve. “Uncle Carlos? Could you get me a glass of water, please?”

Carlos nodded and went to the kitchen, leaving Catalina and Cecil next to each other on the couch. The two of them sized each other up for a few seconds, then Catalina slowly pointed a finger at Cecil’s forehead. “What’s that?”

Cecil blinked, then leaned down so the girl could get a better look. “That’s my third eye.”

“Why have you got one?”

Cecil shrugged. “I just do. I’ve always had it.”

Catalina looked at it, then unexpectedly reached out a finger and jabbed it. Hard.

“Gah!” Cecil reared up and squeezed his eye shut. He gently placed a hand on his forehead and tried to make his eyes stop watering. “Ow! Ow ow ow ow…”

Carlos entered the room as fast as he could without spilling the glass of water he held. “Cecil? Oh, God! Cecil, are you okay?”

Cecil’s eyes were still watering, despite his best efforts. He cautiously opened one and gave Carlos a wan smile. “I’ll be okay. Just… give me a minute. Ow ow ow ow…”

Carlos set the glass down. “Cate!” Catalina had the good grace to look a little sorry, but mostly was trying to look innocent. Carlos was having none of it. He walked over to the girl on the couch and knelt down beside her. Cecil closed his eye again after that, so he couldn’t see what was going on, but he stopped his chant of “ow” so he could listen.

“Sweetheart, we don’t poke anyone in any of their eyes, alright?”

“I didn’t think it was real.”

“That’s not an excuse. You really hurt Uncle Cecil—”  _‘Uncle Cecil?’_  “—and you should apologize.”

Cecil felt a tug on his sleeve. He opened his two lower eyes again and saw Catalina, looking considerably more sorry than she had a few seconds before, staring up at him. She bit her lip and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Uncle Cecil.”

Cecil felt slightly resentful toward the little girl - that eye was sensitive - but he made an effort for Carlos’ sake. “Thank you for your apology, Catalina.”

Carlos tapped the girl’s shoulder. “Very good, Cate. But you’re still getting a timeout.”

Catalina looked scandalized. “Why?”

“Because you still shouldn’t poke people in the eye, and it’s almost bedtime anyway.” Carlos picked his niece up and carried her to her bedroom, with her fussing the whole way.

Cecil sat on the couch, kneading his eye and trying not to get giddy with excitement. It wasn’t working. He just kept turning the phrase ‘Uncle Cecil’ over in his mind, stressing each different syllable and trying to decide if this constituted a marriage proposal from Carlos. He’d always pegged Carlos as more of a romantic at heart, though. But still. ‘Uncle Cecil.’

Carlos eventually came back, looking worn down. Apparently, putting Catalina to bed had been a bit of a fight. “Do you want an ice pack for your eye, Cecil?”

Cecil shook his head. “I’m feeling much better now.”

“For what it’s worth, I don’t think she’ll poke your eye again.” Carlos sat heavily on the couch and rolled his neck on his shoulders. “Ugh. I love my niece. I just have to remind myself sometimes.”

Cecil nodded, then moved on to a more pressing matter. “Carlos?”

“Yes?”

“You called me Uncle Cecil.”

Carlos blinked. “I did?” He glanced sidelong at Cecil and smiled. “I guess I did. Cate called you that, too, didn’t she?”

Cecil nodded. His fingers tapped an excited, staccato rhythm on his knees. “I’m her  _uncle_. Well, like, not officially, but I  _am_.”

Carlos leaned in toward him and brushed his lips over Cecil’s cheek. “You’re going to be a good uncle, Cecil.” Cecil felt his heart start tap-dancing with delight (Metaphorically, of course).

 He didn't go home that night.


	3. Day 3

Cecil spent nearly all of the next day at the laboratory, helping Carlos take care of his niece, and occasionally letting him go off by himself to do science that he’d been neglecting. Of course, he had to leave temporarily to broadcast the news, but Carlos assured Cecil he could handle Catalina for that long by himself.

When Cecil returned, Carlos and Cate were curled up on the living room couch watching a movie. It had a mermaid in it. Cecil didn’t recognize it, but Catalina seemed enthralled. She sang along to one of the songs, off-key but happy. Cecil sat down on the couch and tried paying attention to the movie, too, but he was distracted by the fact that Carlos had put a hand on his knee.

Eventually he focused on the movie again. The mermaid had got into some trouble and swam off to a cave that looked like it belonged to either a villain or a misunderstood black-magic practitioner. The film continued and Cecil found out that the villainess was both at once. He sighed softly. It was happening more and more often these days; misinterpreted black-magic users turning to villainy as their only option. He could only hope it changed in the future.

Cecil noticed, once the villainess appeared, that Catalina kept looking over at him. More specifically, she kept looking at his tattoos. Cecil wondered if maybe he shouldn’t have worn a short-sleeved polo, but then Carlos moved his hand from Cecil’s knee and put it around his shoulders instead, and Cecil forgot about everything for a while. They spent the rest of the movie that way, with Catalina off to the side, the only person in the room who was really paying attention to the screen.

When the credits began to roll, Carlos stood up and stretched. “Well,” he said, “I think that’s enough movies for one day.”

Cate bounced up and down in her seat. “But that was the only one we watched today. Please, Uncle Carlos, can we watch one more?”

The scientist shook his head. “Cate, you haven’t even had dinner yet.”

Catalina pouted, then turned to Cecil. “Uncle Cecil, can I watch another movie and eat dinner out here?”

Cecil blinked in surprise, then looked at Carlos. Carlos shook his head. “No,” Cecil said, “you should listen to Uncle Carlos.”

Cate pouted even more, then hopped off the couch and trailed Carlos to the kitchen. Cecil debated following them in, but he had gotten pickup at the Arby’s drive-thru on the way back from work, so he stayed there on the couch and tried to think of the perfect way to describe how Carlos’ arm felt around his shoulders, so he could describe it later when he posted a new status on Facebook.

(His Facebook page actually knew a lot about the whole situation with Carlos’ niece. Carlos said that it was okay to post about it, so long as he didn’t post too much information. So Cecil had been very careful about not posting her name or anything else about her. In fact, he hadn’t actually posted anything to do with her at all. He was really only describing his interactions with Carlos. Everybody liked those statuses.)

Cecil snapped out of his reverie when Catalina sat down on the couch next to him. Cecil turned. “How was dinner?”

The girl made a face. “Uncle Carlos isn’t a very good cook.”

“Another microwave meal, huh?” Carlos was perfect and beautiful, but he couldn’t make anything more complicated than fish sticks, or so he said.

Catalina nodded glumly. “Uncle Carlos doesn’t even get ones with brownies in them.”

“Well, he can’t do that. Nobody makes anything with wheat by-products anymore.”

Cate stared at Cecil’s arms. “Why?”

“They turned into venomous snakes. And then they became destructive evil spirits.”

“Really?” Catalina didn’t seem to believe him, or perhaps she was just trying to follow the tattoos on Cecil’s arms as they shifted. “Uncle Cecil, what are those, anyway?”

“What are what? Wheat by-products?”

Catalina nodded. “Yeah. What are those?”

“That’s anything made with flour. You know, stuff like bread, cupcakes, or pizza.”

“So that’s why I can’t have a sandwich?”

Cecil nodded. “Yep.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, Catalina staring intently at Cecil’s tattoos. Eventually, she spoke again. “Uncle Cecil, why do your tattoos move around?”

“Because they do.” Cecil studied his tattoos thoughtfully. “I’ve never really thought about it. I have been told that they move more when I’m angry or upset.”

Catalina nodded, then traced her finger over the ever-present tentacle patterns, a constant among the shifting elements. “Why doesn’t this one move?”

“Oh, it does move.” Cecil caught Catalina’s eye and smiled. “It does something really special.”

Catalina’s eyes went wide. “Can I see?”

“Sure.” Cecil flexed his muscles, and Cate watched delightedly as the tentacle patterns slid up his arms and out of sight. Then her eyes, wide enough already, bugged out in shock when Cecil made an exaggerated shrug, and his extra appendages sprouted from his back. They waved around above the two of them, then spread out and curled around one another, and around Cecil himself.

Catalina shrieked and ran for the kitchen. “Uncle Carlooooooooos!”

Cecil stared after her, not entirely surprised, but very dejected nonetheless. He hadn’t known what he expected, but he had hoped she would react better than Carlos had. Although, when he thought about it, his tentacles might have been weirder than his third eye, especially to people outside of Night Vale. Carlos had said, once he was done running experiments on Cecil’s DNA, that they were both very strange features for a human to have. But Carlos still loved him, especially once he found out how good a tentacle back massage could be.

But still, Catalina was not Carlos, and was under no obligation to like him at all. Cecil flexed his back muscles and drew in his tentacles. The tattoos slid down his arm once more to join the shifting patterns on his skin, which were moving slower than usual. He thought about leaving for home, and had just made to get up from the couch when Catalina arrived again, this time pulling Carlos behind her.

“Oh,” she said, “he stopped doing it.” Was it his imagination, or did she sound disappointed?

Carlos looked from Cecil to Catalina, then back again. “What was he doing?”

“It was really neat! Uncle Cecil, could you do it again?”

Cecil blinked. “Really?”

“Yeah! I want Uncle Carlos to see!”

“Oh, well.” Cecil flexed his muscles and rolled his shoulders once again. The tentacles emerged, and Catalina laughed delightedly.

“Isn’t it cool, Uncle Carlos?”

Carlos smiled at Cecil. “It is pretty cool, Cate.” Cecil smiled back, and waved a tentacle at Carlos.

Catalina looked back at her uncle. “Uncle Carlos, did you already know he could do that?”

Carlos shrugged. “Yeah, I did.”

Catalina made a face at him, then turned back to Cecil. “Can you pick stuff up with those, Uncle Cecil?”

“Yes.” Cecil demonstrated this by picking up the television remote.

“Can you pick me up?” Catalina stepped toward him and looked at him earnestly.

Cecil glanced at Carlos, who nodded. Cecil then reached forward and wrapped two of his tentacles around Catalina’s waist, and hoisted her up into the air. She giggled and squirmed within his grasp. “That tickles!”

Oh, did it? Cecil reached out with another two tentacles and tickled the girl. She shrieked with laughter. “Ah! Stop stop stop stop Uncle Cecil! Hahahahahahaaaaaa Uncle Carlos make him stooooooooop!”

Carlos shot Cecil a look, and Cecil lowered Catalina to the ground and his tentacles curled around his body instead. Catalina flopped onto the ground and giggled. “Uncle Carlos,” she asked, “can he pick you up?”

Cecil raised an eyebrow at Carlos, who blushed slightly. “I’m sure he can. We’re not going to test that.”

“We’re not? I thought you were a scientist,” Cecil said in mock disapproval. Carlos gave him an exasperated smile.

Catalina rolled onto her stomach. “I’m tired.”

“Maybe you should go to bed,” Carlos suggested. The girl nodded, got up, and made her way down the hall to her room.

“In fact,” continued Carlos, stretching and yawning, “I should go to bed, too. It’s not that late, but I’m still worn out.”

Cecil nodded. “Should I stay?” His tentacles reached out and curled around Carlos’ shoulders. Carlos petted one, then shook his head.

“Everything should be fine. But you should probably come over tomorrow.”


	4. Day 4

Cecil did indeed come over the next morning. Though it seemed that Carlos had an ulterior motive; the moment Cecil entered, he was asked to babysit for a while, so that Carlos could work on a few experiments that had been left sitting for the better part of a week. Cecil didn’t really blame him. Carlos was, first and foremost, a scientist after all. It was only to be expected, after such a long time away from all of his tests.

And Cecil enjoyed Catalina’s company, so he didn’t mind looking after her at all. The fact that Catalina seemed to grow more fond of him with every passing day certainly helped matters. The two of them spent most of the day running around every part of the laboratory that wasn’t the actual laboratory, where Carlos was doing science.

Catalina seemed to particularly enjoy being chased around the place trying desperately to avoid Cecil’s tentacles. Cecil made it easy to do - he wasn’t trying very hard to catch her. When she did end up caught, she was caught by Cecil’s hands instead.

The two of them eventually ended up collapsed on the couch, with Cecil tickling the girl (with his fingers) until she was laughing almost too hard to breathe. At last, after several minutes of tickle torture, Cate wriggled away from him.

“Uncle Cecil,” she said, before he could reach for her again, “I’m hungry.”

“Oh? Is it lunchtime?” Cecil checked his watch (He knew that clocks in Night Vale weren’t real, but that didn’t stop him from having a watch, if only because it hadn’t steered him wrong yet). His watch told him that it was, in fact, lunchtime. It whispered this to him in a high voice when he held it to his ear. It also suggested several things to eat, up to and including the small child in front of him.

That particular option probably was not the best idea. Catalina certainly wouldn’t like it, and he was sure that Carlos wouldn’t either. Did Carlos know that it was lunchtime? Lunchtime wasn’t necessarily restricted to a set schedule in Night Vale (The City Council had once tried to rectify that, but rumors reached them that Desert Bluffs ran things that way, so they decided against it). But, all the same, Cecil wasn’t entirely sure that Carlos remembered to eat when he was very busy doing science, so it made sense to check up on him.

“How about you wait here,” he said as he hauled himself off the couch, “and I’ll go see if Uncle Carlos-” (He loved saying that phrase) “-wants to have lunch, too.”

He began to make his way down the hall to the place that put the “lab” in “Carlos’ Laboratory,” only to find Catalina following him. He stopped. “Cate, I told you to wait in the living room.”

The girl pouted. “I want to see Uncle Carloses Lab. I’ve never seen it before.” Her eyes sparked with imagination. “Is there lots of bubbly stuff? Is he building a robot? Or making a monster?”

Cecil had only ever been in Carlos’ lab once, and, so far as he knew, Carlos was not building a robot or making a monster of any sort. “There’s some bubbly stuff.” At least, he thought there was. He might have seen some. “But you’re still not allowed in Uncle Carlos’ lab.”

The girl pouted. “Why not?”

“He’s afraid that you might get hurt or break something.” It seemed reasonable, especially given Catalina’s propensity for knocking things over that she had demonstrated for the past three days.

“But I won’t break anything!”

Cecil raised an eyebrow, but all he said was “It’s Uncle Carlos’ rule. I’m not allowed to let you in.”

Catalina scowled, stuck out her tongue, then turned and stomped back toward the living room. Cecil continued down the hallway and knocked on the lab door. He waited a few moments, then knocked again, louder. This time he heard footsteps, and Carlos opened the door a few seconds later.

“Cecil? What is it?” He looked more at ease than Cecil had seen him in days. The benefits of doing what you love, he supposed. He often felt happier after broadcasting his radio show, for example. Or after spending time with Carlos.

Cecil indicated his watch. “It’s lunchtime. I wondered if you wanted to eat. And,” he added, “I was also wondering what I should feed Catalina.”

Carlos thought for a few moments. “Um… I don’t know. You could give her a frozen dinner or something. I bought a lot of those. Mostly for me. Come to think of it,” he said, running his perfect fingers through his perfect hair, “I should probably buy more before the week is out.”

Cecil nodded. “Are you hungry?”

Carlos shook his head, then looked surprised when his stomach vocally disagreed with him. He gave Cecil a sheepish grin. “Okay, I guess I am. I’ll finish up this last test and be out in a few minutes. I’m sure there will be something in the kitchen for you to whip up.” With that, he smiled at Cecil and closed the door again.

Cecil headed back down the hallway toward the living room. Catalina was sitting on the couch, arms folded. “I don’t want another frozen thing,” she said defiantly. “I’m getting tired of those.”

Cecil shrugged. “Well, I’ll see what I can find in the refrigerator, okay?” Catalina hopped off the couch and followed him into the kitchen.

“Uncle Carlos doesn’t keep anything else in the fridgerator except milk,” she said. Cecil opened the refrigerator in question and found this to be nearly true. However, Carlos also kept a carton of eggs.

Cecil sighed. His poor, sweet, beloved Carlos didn’t keep anything in stock, did he? He checked the cupboards. Almost nothing. Just a few cartons of juice and some decimated prepackaged muffin mix boxes that he’d never gotten around to cleaning out. Cecil threw them in the incinerator (Standard with every living space).

Catalina left the kitchen and went back into the living room as Cecil looked around the kitchen and despaired of finding anything to eat. He heard heavier footsteps that signaled Carlos’ arrival, and went out to the living room to find him and Catalina arguing over the lack of food in the laboratory. Carlos was insisting that there was food and that it was perfectly edible, and Catalina was insisting just as strenuously that there was not.

“Cate, there’s plenty of food!”

“But I don’t want that stuff, Uncle Carlos!” The girl looked about ready to throw a tantrum, and Carlos looked about ready to give up. It was time to step in.

Cecil cleared his throat. “I think I might have a solution.”

Carlos and Catalina both looked at him, and he smiled.

——

They had almost been overdue for a slice at Big Rico’s anyway. After all, everyone was legally required to go there once a week, and it was the best pizza in town anyway (No one does a slice like Big Rico’s. No one). Carlos had been hesitant when Cecil suggested it, but Catalina had point-blank refused to eat any of the frozen meals he offered. And there wasn’t very much going on, so it was probably safe to walk over to Big Rico’s.

Big Rico’s might have had illegal wheat and wheat by-products in its basement at one time, but it was now a model of legal business practices. Catalina was slightly confused as to why the menu mostly consisted of stewed tomatoes, melted cheese-wads, and gluten free pizza slices, until Carlos explained that gluten free pizza slices didn’t contain wheat by-products.

All three of them ended up ordering a gluten-free slice of cheese pizza. Not because they particularly wanted to, but because, according to Big Rico himself, some hooded figures had completely cleaned him out of toppings. When Catalina asked what the hooded figures were, she readily accepted that there was really no explanation about them, much to Cecil and Carlos’ relief.

“I think that  _she_  might think they’re like some of the other people Carmen warns her about,” Carlos said later, when the two of them found a moment alone on the living room couch. He didn’t expand on what he meant by that, but Cecil didn’t push him to. “I’m just glad,” Carlos continued, “that nothing too strange happened outside of that; I’d hate to explain to Carmen why her little girl came back from Uncle Carlos’ place with a pair of antennae or something. It’s actually been pretty quiet here, all things considered.”

Cecil nodded. It bothered him slightly that everything seemed to have temporarily stopped happening. He hadn’t seen very much of anything going on, and there had been less news to report on his show than usual. But Night Vale was Night Vale; things would probably be back to normal any day now. He mentioned this to Carlos, who laughed.

“I really  _am_  starting to think of it as normal. I’ll actually be glad when there are more events and happenings to study. And more time to study them.” Carlos ran his fingers through his hair again and looked a bit sheepish. “I love my niece, Cecil. I really do.”

“I know, Carlos. You’ve told me before.” Cecil prodded the scientist until his back was facing him, then slowly began to work his fingers over Carlos’ tense muscles.

Carlos moaned appreciatively, which piqued Cecil’s interest in every way. “Mmm… I’ve gotten a lot of massages this week. Maybe I should have Catalina over more often.”

Cecil grinned and uttered a low hum of interest. He’d been told he gave great massages; it was one of those things he took pride in. “If you really like them that much, you can have more. That is if you’re, you know,  _nice_.” There was a certain stress that he put on the word ‘nice’ that made Carlos shiver under his hands.

He had just leaned back when Catalina appeared again, holding a book. “What are you doing?”

Both men started guiltily, and Carlos sat up and turned to face his niece, blushing faintly. “Uh, Uncle Cecil was just… helping me relax a little.”

Catalina nodded. “You’ve been doing science all day. You need a break.” She made her way over to Cecil and scrambled up into his lap. “Uncle Cecil, could you read this to me?”

It was a children’s book,  _The Gashlycrumb Tinies_. Cecil had brought it over from the town library, if only because he had awoken there earlier that week and managed to snag the book as he ran for the exit, librarians in hot pursuit.

He had brought it over along with the teddy bear, but Catalina had shown no interest in it until now. He opened the book, and Catalina settled deeper into his lap and listened to him read.  _“A is for Amy, who fell down the stairs…”_

——

After Cecil had finished, he glanced at his watch. It was nearly time for him to head over to the station. He set the book on a small table near the couch and shooed Catalina off his lap. The girl looked thoughtful as she watched Cecil pick up his jacket and slip into it, checking to make sure he had his keys and his pocket revolver (Good against any kind of wild dog pack or half-crazed barber, but not guaranteed against five-headed dragons. Not that Cecil would  _ever_  shoot Hiram McDaniels, but that was just the warning that the gun came with).

“Uncle Cecil, can I come to work with you?” she asked eventually. Carlos, who was on the cusp of nodding off on the couch, suddenly sat up. He shook his head slightly at Cecil’s questioning look.

“Um, no. I don’t think that station management would allow that. It’s not ‘Bring A Child To Work Day*’ for another few weeks.” Cecil didn’t mention the inherent danger he faced going to work every day, nor did he mention that the unpronounced asterisk was for the addendum ‘By Force If Necessary.’

Catalina folded her arms and sat down dramatically on the floor. “I wanna go out! I wanna see what you do!”

Carlos looked a little guilty. It was true, Catalina hadn’t been let out of the laboratory apartment for most of the week, but despite the fact that there were good reasons not to allow that, she was still only six. She couldn’t honestly be expected to stay in the same house for five days straight. And there wasn’t much going on in Night Vale, so far as anyone knew. And yet…

Catalina started to sniff. Cecil shot Carlos a panicked look.

“Listen,” Carlos said quickly, “you can’t go to where Cecil works-” at this, the sniffling became crying, “-but I’ll take you out for dinner! We can go to a diner that I know. That one -  Cecil, what’s it called?”

Cecil shrugged. “I don’t remember. I doubt that anyone knows for certain. But it is there, and the food is pretty good.”

Catalina had been reduced to hiccuping gently. “Do you promise?”

Carlos put his hand around the girl’s shoulders and motioned at Cecil to go. “I promise, Cate. Oh, Cecil?”

Cecil paused, his hand hovering over the doorknob. “Yes?”

“Could you come over tomorrow?” Catalina looked up, her tear streaked face hopeful.

Cecil nodded. “Of course.”


	5. Day 5

It was Catalina’s last day in Night Vale. She insisted on making the most of it. That mostly seemed to entail a lot of what had gone on for the past few days, punctuated with whining that she didn’t want to pack. Carlos ended up doing it for her.

Cecil, on the other hand, alternately chased her around (Though they did pause a game at one point so Cecil could draw on her arms with an illegal marker; she had wanted tattoos that looked like his), played board games, and told her stories (They were mostly real stories about the beings in Night Vale. She believed exactly all of them, and especially loved the stories about Khoshekh and the angels at Old Woman Josie’s house).

They were just finishing up another rousing game of tag when Carlos appeared, carrying Cate’s suitcase and holding a phone up to his ear.

“Uh huh,” he said, and then, “Yeah, she’s all packed up. See you soon.” He pressed a button and set the phone on one of the small living room tables. “Well, Cate, your mom is on her way. She’ll be here in a few minutes.”

Catalina, still breathless after being caught and tickled by Cecil, nodded and wriggled out of Cecil’s embrace.

Cecil, after receiving a meaningful look from Carlos, retracted his tentacles. He rolled his sleeves down, covering the shifting patterns on his arms. It wasn’t that Carmen didn’t like tattoos, but, Carlos explained, she might not have been entirely ready to see moving ones. She also probably wasn’t ready for the eye yet, so he closed that too.

That was fair, of course. Carlos also hadn’t really been ready for either of those things at first. It was something you grew used to. Carmen, Carlos assured, wasn’t quite ready to grow used to those things yet. She had to get used to Night Vale first.

Carlos brushed some of his perfect hair out of his face, then reached out and brushed Cecil’s hair over his top eye. It tickled a bit, and Cecil resisted the urge to scratch at it (He had tried to scratch his third eyelid once. It was a bad idea). He didn’t like wearing his hair that way, most of the time, but he was willing to make an exception for meeting any member of Carlos’ family and not making them uncomfortable.

Catalina, meanwhile, sat on her suitcase and looked despondent, until Cecil started in on another story about his latest intern (Jacob; condolences to friends and family) and his untimely absorption into a small, but very tenacious, glob of ectoplasm. The girl sat and listened (as did Carlos) until Cecil was interrupted by a knock (Which was a shame, because he had just gotten to the good part, where he had beaten the ectoplasm back with a fire extinguisher).

Carlos elected to open the door, revealing a woman who looked rather like a female version of himself, but shorter, curvier, and with even longer hair (Cecil noted, with some satisfaction, that it was not as nice as Carlos’ hair, though it came close).

This, he assumed, was Carmen. His assumption was confirmed when Catalina jumped up and ran to her, shouting “Mommy!”

“Hi, sweetheart!” The woman knelt down and caught Catalina in a hug. As the two parted, she  asked, “Did you enjoy being at Uncle Carlos’ house?”

“Yeah! Mommy, I want to stay some more!”

Carmen laughed. “Sweetie, you have to go home. You’ll miss your friends, and I don’t think Uncle Carlos wants to keep you.” She stood and looked at Carlos. “Right?”

The scientist ran his fingers through his hair again. “Nope. Sorry, Cate.”

Catalina turned and focused in on Cecil. “Uncle Cecil, do you want to keep me?”

Carmen’s attention turned fully onto him, and Cecil was momentarily lost for a response. Then he shrugged. “If your mother wants to get rid of you. But you wouldn’t like that, would you?”

Catalina thought about it, then shook her head. “Nope.”

“Well,” Cecil beamed, “there you have it. You’ll have to go home.” He made a shooing motion toward Carmen, who raised an eyebrow.

“Not until I meet you, of course. Cecil, was it?” She held out a hand. Cecil nodded and moved forward to grasp it. She had a firm, friendly grip, and an equally friendly smile. Her eyes scanned him up and down, as though she were trying to take his measure. There was a brief pause before she continued, “Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” Cecil replied. He thought she might have come to some conclusion about him, but he wasn’t exactly sure what it was. There might have been some approval of him somewhere in her gaze.

“So, Carlos has told me exactly nothing about you-” Carmen paused to give Carlos a disappointed look “-but can I assume you’re the one who makes sure his hair is that long?”

Cecil nodded and smiled proudly. He made sure Carlos only ever trimmed the split ends, and nothing else was ever done to that beautiful mane of hair. It was one of those things that he lived for.

“I see,” Carmen said slowly. She looked at Carlos again. Whatever look was in her eyes caused him to blush slightly. Then Carmen shrugged. “Well, I have a few minutes before Cate and I have to go catch our flight. And I didn’t really get a chance to talk to you when I dropped her off, did I, Carlos?”

Carlos shook his head. “You didn’t. I guess I could make some coffee… We can go to the kitchen.”

Catalina led the way to the kitchen, happily gabbling to her mother, as they sat around the table, about how much fun she had at Uncle Carlos’ house, and how neat Uncle Cecil was (which caused a comment about her “tattoos”), and how “he and Uncle Carlos are really good friends, just like you and Daddy.”

The adults patiently listened, although when this last pronouncement came to light, Carmen looked at Cecil and Carlos with her eyebrows raised over her coffee cup. Cecil didn’t blush. Carlos did (He looked adorable).

Eventually, Catalina went to the bathroom, leaving the three of them to talk freely for a few minutes. Carmen wasted no time.

“So,” she said, setting her coffee cup on the table, “you two have been dating for how long now?”

Carlos, who was already reddening as much as his dark skin would allow, looked down at the table. “Um… We’ll be coming up on four months soon.”

“The previous year didn’t count,” Cecil added, earning him an embarrassed glare from the scientist, along with a muttered “I hardly knew you then.”

“Oh?” Carmen looked delighted. “It always took him awhile to warm up to people. I’m just glad you found somebody, Carlos; I was starting to think you only had a thing for beakers.”

Carlos hunched over further until his forehead was firmly planted on the table. “Carmen, really?”

She grinned, then turned her attention to Cecil. “So, you’re Uncle Cecil now? Who decided that?”

Cecil smiled at the memory. “Carlos did. I don’t know if it was by accident.”

“A slip of the tongue that stuck,” Carlos intoned, straightening up and taking a swig from his coffee mug.

“I think it suits him.” Carmen sipped her coffee. “Cate sure seems to like you, Cecil.”

“I’ve been told that I am very likable,” Cecil said. He didn’t have any coffee, so he settled for looking sidelong at Carlos, who caught his eye and blushed again.

“Though,” Carmen continued, “I don’t know if I approve of what you’ve done to my brother’s hair. It’s gotten so  _long_.”

“It’s perfect,” Cecil said defensively. He reached out and stroked Carlos’ hair possessively.

“But you did like to keep it short, once upon a time, didn’t you, Carlos?”

Carlos smiled apologetically at Cecil’s shocked look. “Long hair gets in the way, Cecil. I actually hadn’t meant to let it grow out as much as it did before coming here. But now there’s no barber, so…” he shrugged. “It’ll have to stay as it is.”

“Just how I like it,” Cecil purred. Carlos concentrated on his coffee, breathing deeply and trying (but failing) not to let himself blush any more than he had already.

Carmen quirked an eyebrow. “There’s no barber?”

“He went out of business for health reasons,” Cecil explained smoothly (It must be said, Telly doing anything to Carlos’ hair was absolutely not good for his health). Carlos gave him a look, which Cecil happily ignored.

Carmen tossed some of her own hair over her shoulder. “All I know is, if you ever come home for Christmas again, Mom is going to want to take a pair of scissors to that.”

“Well, I suppose you can never go home for Christmas again, Carlos,” Cecil said (Jokingly, although he was perfectly serious).

“But Uncle Cecil, if he came for Christmas, you would come with him, right?” Catalina had returned. She climbed up onto a chair and looked at Cecil expectantly. “I wanna see you again.”

Cecil thought about it. He couldn’t go, not really. Too much happened during Christmas that needed to be covered. But the thought of meeting Carlos’ family was intriguing. And he liked Catalina. And Carmen, despite her treacherous feelings about Carlos’ hair. Talks with management could make a window if he started them soon enough…

“We’ll see,” he said.

Carmen drained what was left of her coffee, then looked at her watch. “Cate, honey, we need to go now.”

Catalina gloomily hopped off of her chair and trailed after her mother into the living room. Cecil and Carlos followed. Carmen picked up her daughter’s suitcase and carried it toward the door. “Go on, sweetheart, say goodbye.”

The girl hugged Carlos and Cecil in turn. “Goodbye. I had lots of fun. I’m gonna miss you.”

“We’re gonna miss you, too,” Cecil said, and he meant it. He couldn’t help getting attached to the child, she was energetic and curious, and she thought his tentacles were cool. And on top of that, it would be rather sad to no longer have an excuse to go over to Carlos’ laboratory every day.

Carmen smiled and beckoned to Catalina. “Goodbye, Carlos. Nice meeting you, Cecil.”

And with that, the two of them were out of the door. Cecil and Carlos looked at one another. Cecil brushed his hair out of his forehead and opened his top eye again. “Do you… Did you want me to go home when they left?”

Carlos put an arm around his shoulders and nestled his head into the crook of Cecil’s neck. “No.” They stood that way for a minute before Carlos spoke again.

“Cecil, I think we’re pretty good uncles.”

Cecil grinned and wrapped an arm around the other man. “You’re the best Uncle Carlos ever.”

“And you’re the best Uncle Cecil.”

“I am, aren’t I?”

Carlos looked up to give Cecil a disparaging look, then smiled. “Well, maybe. It might require more testing.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Cecil said. And it was true. He wouldn’t mind at all.


End file.
